Redstate has been a great place to share ideas among fellow conservatives but I suspect many are left a bit empty and frustrated reading about the various problems and not knowing what to do about it. It seems those on the right get all riled up and then yell, go out and do something. Individuals get frustrated being a one man band. The tea parties are great to see as an organic reaction to blatant abuse in DC but I feel the right needs some tools to channel and focus that great energy in a positive way.
We’ve been seeing some good writing on the Organizing for Obama continual campaign machine on the left.(Anita Moncrief?) How OFO is using web tools to organize, network, and collaborate on a very focused basis. Redstate is a great place to attract like minded real conservatives as more and more people are waking up to the rapid erosion of our great country. The challenge is taking it to the next level. People writing and contributing is great but many want to take action and get involved (Cold Warrior does a great job on encouraging precinct activism) but people don’t know how to get involved.
Is there a desire or plans in the works for Redstate to expand into these areas to focus and channel all this energy?
I would think a couple areas would be next steps:
social networking
internal private messaging system(encourage dialogue that may not fit as a diary comment)
project collaboration on various local elections and issues.
Is there a platform out there for conservatives already? Or is this something we need to organize and build? Most people are not pioneers but if there was a structure to make it easy for them to get involved they would.
This is not your fathers patty cake politics any more, this is war for the future of America. We can no longer reinvent the activism wheel individually anymore. We need some bigazz tools to unite, empower as many as possible to the extent they can to fight back.
Neil Stevens
Moe Lane
Steve Maley
Daniel Horowitz
Jake Walker
You could put your email address in your signature.
RoguePolitics (Diary) Wednesday, February 10th at 11:35AM EST (link)It will bring a lot of friends.
But more seriously I agree it would be nice to have a little bit of back channel.
I would guess RedState has avoided this deliberately to prevent sniping wars from getting started and perhaps other reasons. Like private messages being made public.
The are a number of sites out there focused on networking C4L is one. It is a bit of a dirty word around here. But the model works well whether you like it or not.
“So much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don’t even know that fire is hot.” George Orwell
“Ancient Rome declined because it had a Senate, now what’s going to happen to us with both a House and a Senate?” Will Rogers
When the American spirit was in its youth, the language of America was different: Liberty, sir, was the primary object. Patrick Henry
http://theprecinctproject.wordpress.com
Because the Republican Party is NOT going to fix the Republican Party.
http://americanamendment.com/
Because Washington is NOT going to fix Washington.
I Agree, Rogue...
Vassar Bushmills (Diary) Wednesday, February 10th at 12:33PM EST (link)CommonCents has it right, our little group addresses these issues all the time, but many important things having to do with real action need to be kept close to the vest. Titty your cards. I can’t stress that enough.
So Vassar how do you build a cellular network
RoguePolitics (Diary) Wednesday, February 10th at 2:41PM EST (link)That allows for communication and organization without exposing our tactical objectives?
“So much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don’t even know that fire is hot.” George Orwell
“Ancient Rome declined because it had a Senate, now what’s going to happen to us with both a House and a Senate?” Will Rogers
When the American spirit was in its youth, the language of America was different: Liberty, sir, was the primary object. Patrick Henry
http://theprecinctproject.wordpress.com
Because the Republican Party is NOT going to fix the Republican Party.
http://americanamendment.com/
Because Washington is NOT going to fix Washington.
Did you almost say "cell", Rogue?
Vassar Bushmills (Diary) Wednesday, February 10th at 4:14PM EST (link)Al Qaeda, and much of the Left on the internet, is a variation on the theme from the networks set up by Algerian rebels during the civil war in the 60s.
Five guys get togther to form a cell, then each goes out and recruits say five more, those five only knowing the one who recruited them. Almost total deniability, running several levels deep. The French had to do some awful torture to finally break into the system. Sanche de Gramont (ted Wilson) wrote a good book on the subject, Battle of Algiers. (He was good historian, Yale man.)
We’re not counter-terrorism guys, but do use that model in assessing clandestine business networks in the old Soviet world, which was very low tech, and have found it makes (we’ve set two up in the US) a good working model for grassroots clandestine agitprop operations that more or less mirror what the Left’s been doing for years already…nothing illegal, mind you, just a network that keeps them off their guard, and never knowing for sure just who you and your partners are.
Tell you what, let me go to our old posts at TownHall, where I offered a shell outline, with raison d’eter, last year. I’ff revise it and bring it forward here. But if you’re in a hurry just go to vbushmills.blogtownhall.com, or Least men Standing. It’s in there under Agitprop, buyt we have several plans here, a little more sophisticated.
Believe it or not the toughest form of communication is right here. We don;t use home computers, but a loaned station computer, and all our email addresses are dummies (Yahoo, free). Set that up your friend here friends can correspond all you want, without ayone listening in. I also recommend hard-line phones for sentive converstions.
I hope this is what you’re asking. I understand your concern, and agree, people should be more in the dark. I’ve been advocating deeper pockets set something like that up, with a national network, for the longest time. Serves two purposes: Fighting the Left on their turf, while we can, and 2) Fighting the Bad guys if we lose politically.
Cheers
Try this, Rogue...
Vassar Bushmills (Diary) Wednesday, February 10th at 4:22PM EST (link)http://vbushmills.blogtownhall.com/2009/04/28/what_is_to_be_undone-_first_raise_a_full_time_army_to_fight_the_left.thtml
It is what I speak of. Good article btw.
RoguePolitics (Diary) Wednesday, February 10th at 7:17PM EST (link)I view it like you do.
First politically.
The left can dump protesters anywhere, anytime and make it look (somewhat) organic in its development.
They also have an “expert” instantly available for any topic whether global warming, Cap and Trade or healthcare.
They have a media available to give their “expert” credibility.
We need to develop the ability or identify the resources so we can do the same.
Who are our Climate Change experts? Has anybody put together a list of media outlets that are favorable?
Second. If we don’t win at the ballot box, and soon, we will need true resistance networks. As you said, hope we don’t need plan B but if we do we had better have a plan B.
“So much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don’t even know that fire is hot.” George Orwell
“Ancient Rome declined because it had a Senate, now what’s going to happen to us with both a House and a Senate?” Will Rogers
When the American spirit was in its youth, the language of America was different: Liberty, sir, was the primary object. Patrick Henry
http://theprecinctproject.wordpress.com
Because the Republican Party is NOT going to fix the Republican Party.
http://americanamendment.com/
Because Washington is NOT going to fix Washington.
You're probably the first person to have read it.
Vassar Bushmills (Diary) Thursday, February 11th at 6:45AM EST (link)That site is so obscure,…but has been good for us…allowing us to post position papers/analysis away from peering eyes. Most of it is still topical and St George is bringing some of it forward for reissue on RedState, where at least it will be read and disseminated.
I figure we have around 30 months to get all this stuff right. If not, Plan B.
Voice in the wilderness over there. nt
RoguePolitics (Diary) Thursday, February 11th at 9:19AM EST (link)“So much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don’t even know that fire is hot.” George Orwell
“Ancient Rome declined because it had a Senate, now what’s going to happen to us with both a House and a Senate?” Will Rogers
When the American spirit was in its youth, the language of America was different: Liberty, sir, was the primary object. Patrick Henry
http://theprecinctproject.wordpress.com
Because the Republican Party is NOT going to fix the Republican Party.
http://americanamendment.com/
Because Washington is NOT going to fix Washington.
actually the cell system is much older than the Algerian resistence
kyle8 (Diary) Wednesday, February 10th at 4:25PM EST (link)The commies have used it from the very beginning, and they still are. Not that there are very many commies left in the world, but we still have the radical branch of the Democratic party.
“Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty”
Kyle
er Algerian
kyle8 (Diary) Wednesday, February 10th at 4:26PM EST (link)what i meant
“Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty”
Kyle
I think even the Committees of Correspondence used by the colonials would qualify.
RoguePolitics (Diary) Wednesday, February 10th at 7:26PM EST (link)I am more concerned with the practicality of setting it up when the left has influenced the pop culture in a way that causes even a mention of it to be viewed with suspicion.
Or has it always been that way?
“So much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don’t even know that fire is hot.” George Orwell
“Ancient Rome declined because it had a Senate, now what’s going to happen to us with both a House and a Senate?” Will Rogers
When the American spirit was in its youth, the language of America was different: Liberty, sir, was the primary object. Patrick Henry
http://theprecinctproject.wordpress.com
Because the Republican Party is NOT going to fix the Republican Party.
http://americanamendment.com/
Because Washington is NOT going to fix Washington.
Agree, agree, agree.
yoyo (Diary) Wednesday, February 10th at 11:39AM EST (link)Whatever format (I personally like the internal private message board idea) needs to be compatible with … like TweetDeck or … something.
Local Organization could be broken down into a “by state” and/or “by CD” and/or “County/Town/City” and really get the local GOP into it all.
See CruiseCritic.com for an example. (My wife loves it, and it has a structure that could work well with what you have proposed.)
I dont know, but I am with you, though. We are going to need all the help we can muster come 2012, especially if 2010 is as bad as it seems for the Dems.
Nemo me impune lacesset
“No one will provoke me with impunity!”
=============================
Pukin’ Dogs – The Fighting 143
Sans Reproache
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The ‘yoyo’ replaced my cigarettes January 22, 2006….
Twitter is the way to go here
Richard Mullins (Diary) Wednesday, February 10th at 11:51AM EST (link)There is a reason the left doesn’t like it now, conservatives like us have made good use of it. I’ve shorten my signature so it easier to follow and tweet. So as long it keeps going, Twitter will be hated by them.
Richard Phillip Mullins BlogThe Squash Satire SiteNews on Happy Jet Airlines
Rmullins Pics
Rpmullins Twitter
Joe Biden is like a Decrepit Park owner with a Meth lab that happens to not only be a dealer but a user.
Let’s Bankrupt the Democratic paty. Make spend all the money to defend thier candidates.
Twitter is a good way to communicate realtime
RoguePolitics (Diary) Wednesday, February 10th at 2:37PM EST (link)but it doesn’t seem like a way to build a community or maintain any type of structure.
The other problem with using Twitter to organize is that it would be like sending state secrets on post cards.
“So much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don’t even know that fire is hot.” George Orwell
“Ancient Rome declined because it had a Senate, now what’s going to happen to us with both a House and a Senate?” Will Rogers
When the American spirit was in its youth, the language of America was different: Liberty, sir, was the primary object. Patrick Henry
http://theprecinctproject.wordpress.com
Because the Republican Party is NOT going to fix the Republican Party.
http://americanamendment.com/
Because Washington is NOT going to fix Washington.
Totally agree
Black River Wolf (Diary) Wednesday, February 10th at 4:59PM EST (link)I know of a few places that are doing this.
Also I have made my own Soc Net,but not rally used it or advertised it that much.
I wanted it to be a place to have people get to know each other better than just the online persona. Also to help form ideas and give advice to people.
http://stixclub.com. Check it out. I have not really worked on it in a while, have been too many other things
“In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame,
two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress.”—-John Adams
Ning, but not Ning...
LaborUnionReport (Diary) Saturday, February 13th at 12:12AM EST (link)If you are at all famiiar with Ning, the format lends itself to “community building.” While it doesn’t have to be Ning itself, there are some elements that should be consdered.
On Ning, the users can set up their own pages, post their own stuff, and open it up to ‘the group.’ The blog and forums are useful.
It would not be difficult to incorporate some of its better qualities into RS. Or, RS could simply build a Ning site (on Ning) and link over to it.
“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine December 23, 1776
In any compromise between food and poison, it is only death that can win. In any compromise between good and evil, it is only evil that can profit.-Ayn Rand
LaborUnionReport.com
The Most Comprehensive Source for
News & Views on Today’s Labor Unions.
Follow @laborunionrpt
Anyone interested in a private chat system?
Finrod (Diary) Saturday, February 13th at 4:00AM EST (link)I’ve been involved in the TinyMUD world for two decades now; a TinyMUD (or its descendents) is a server running on one computer (in this case, on one of the machines in my basement) that everyone connects to. Unlike twitter, it’s completely private, very old-school tech. If it got to the point that we were worried about someone snooping on the net line out of my house (unlikely), I could even set it up with ssl connections which are pretty much unbreakable (it’d be easier for someone to get the info by breaking into my house, it’s the same kind of tech used on https connections). While anyone can connect to it, anyone connecting to it has to create a character, and when they do I can see what IP address they’re coming from so I can be a very effective gatekeeper in keeping undesirables out.
I’ve had this place (think of it as a text virtual world, the descendant of Adventure and Zork) up and running for a while now, I just have never gotten around to writing something for it to introduce newbies to it. If there’s interest, I could get back to working on that.
Let’s get down to brass tacks here. How much for the ape?
That sounds pretty interesting Finrod...
JadedByPolitics (Diary) Saturday, February 13th at 8:40AM EST (link)I am game for any groups that want to participate in a offline get out the (insert word). I think somewhat Redstate does that with it’s daily email but that is also on-line in a way. I do think mobilization is the key to my 80+ House seats so if WE are going to rally to something it had better be quick
Unified Patriots – How-To:
Activists Taking Action
Hmm, no interest by RS admin?
Common_Cents (Diary) Tuesday, February 16th at 6:03PM EST (link)I’d think we wouldn’t have to re-invent the wheel here. Org for Obama site seems to have some good tools as there are quite a few collaboration sites already out there that could be adapted. As far as the stuff being “public” after signing up/logging in don’t see how that would be a problem. How does OFO site regulate that?
Some separate private messaging would be great too for some discussions and planning for those vetted over time.
I’m not a web guru but see the need to get some organization for all the new conservative activists to get involved. If we make it easy for people to take some action, more of them will do it.
Obama=Golfer in Chief, Leading from,
behind, the Back Nine.Leaders don’t create movements. Movements create leaders. Get involved. Your future depends on it.
Govt “invests” YOUR tax money for POLITICAL return rather than economic return.